First Presbyterian funds 5,000 wheelchairs to distribute around the world

Sara Higgins

Published 7:20 am, Thursday, March 29, 2012

For many physically disabled poor in developing countries, a wheelchair means much more than mobility. It's a new lease on life; it's the ability to interact with the outside world, and even maybe find work.

Free Wheelchair Mission founder Don Schoendorfer returns to homes that have received chairs from his organization, only to find family members apologizing that the recipient of the chair isn't home. The news makes him smile; with the gift of a wheelchair, that individual gained the freedom to leave the house.

On Sunday, Schoendorfer visited First Presbyterian Church in Midland to thank members for their continued donations to Free Wheelchair Mission. Since 2006, the church has pulled together enough funds to donate more than 5,000 chairs at an expense of $63.94 each, half of which were funded only in the past year.

"We're just scratching the surface, but with people like you we can do this," he told the congregation during worship. Free Wheelchair Mission has handed out 635,000 wheelchairs in 84 countries, and hopes to give away millions more over the course of its existence. First Presbyterian's donations spiked last year after a member offered to start matching donations from the congregation up to $20,000. In October, a sponsor of the ministry in California decided to match total donations from the congregation, in essence quadrupling the church's donations for the current year.

"This has really taken ahold of them," the Rev. Steve Schorr said of his congregation, whose fundraising efforts for the wheelchairs have been led by congregation member Maxine Hannifin. "I think this is the kind of stuff that resonates with us ... and to be able to help the poorest of the poor, it's a great ministry."

Schoendorfer first saw the need for providing mobility to others in 1979 during a vacation with his wife Laurie to Morocco, where they saw a woman dragging her body across a dirt road with one working hand. He was haunted by that image until 1999, when he used his engineering background to create a simple wheelchair design. He made 100 samples of the chair, and took four with him on a medical mission trip to India. Witnessing the transformation of others' lives inspired him to form the organization from the bottom up under the guidance of a "Non-profits for Dummies" book.

Schoendorfer hesitates to call himself an "inventor." Not straying far from the wheelchair's namesake, he attached a plastic patio chair to a metal frame and chose 24-inch mountain bike tires for the wheels. The idea was to keep the chairs as basic, durable and inexpensive as possible.

Two years ago, he started testing a second generation version of the wheelchair, which is capable of being adjusted for size. The two different wheelchairs have given the group the ability to provide a choice to those receiving chairs, especially to children who didn't fit in the first generation model.

Schoendorfer now hopes to engage more people in distributing the chairs, so they are able to understand the power of experiencing the stories of those who receive wheelchairs.

"What do you want to do now?" Schoendorfer remembers asking one woman sitting in a newly provided wheelchair on a trip in Peru. She was in her late 20s and well-dressed despite her economic status. He lowered himself to his knees to talk with her; it was possibly one of the few times she was able to look down in order to see someone.

"We have music going on all the time; we love to dance," she said. "I want to dance."

For a second, Schoendorfer almost regretted asking her the question, and she noticed his uneasiness.

"Let me show you," she said.

She put her hands on the wheels of her chair, and began rocking the chair back and forth. Her sister began singing, and before he knew it, the whole room was dancing and singing.